Peril in Paperback (8 page)

My gut reaction told me it wasn’t true. Grace just didn’t strike me as that mean-spirited. “Are all of Suzie’s relatives here this week?”

“No, but the ones who didn’t make it are being kept informed of all the developments, thanks to Madge.”

Madge was really starting to fray my last nerve.

“I guess it’s good for the family to stay informed,” I said carefully.

“Madge is a grasping, bigmouthed money-grubber,” Vinnie whispered, then added, “but otherwise, a lovely woman.”

“Oh, Vinnie.” I laughed and grabbed her in a hug. “I wish I’d been sitting closer to you guys during dinner.”

“I wish you had been, too,” she said, then frowned. “Brooklyn, I believe Grace may be trying to set you up with this Nathan fellow.”

I grinned. “She can try all she wants, but it won’t work. I’m completely nuts about Derek.”

“Oh, good.” She clutched my arm. “I was worried you might have taken a trip down to the deep end.”

“You mean,
gone off
the deep end?”

“That’s what I said.”

I smiled. “I was upset earlier, but I’m not about to do anything stupid. I’ll talk to Derek in a day or two and we’ll smooth things out.”

“Thank goodness. I don’t want to see you unhappy.”

“Neither do I,” I admitted.

“Hey, what’re you two plotting?” Suzie said as she walked up behind us.

“I was telling Brooklyn what your family thinks of Grace’s big announcement.”

Suzie waved her hand in a carefree gesture. “I’m not worried. Madge is a freak. Don’t pay attention to her.”

Vinnie and Suzie made a quick pact to ignore Madge’s whining, and the three of us walked into the card room, ready to have some fun. Grace and Sybil were already seated at a small table in the corner, so we strolled over
just as Grace finished shuffling a large deck of tarot cards.

Suzie got bored watching her aunt deal cards to Sybil and announced that she was heading to the game room to watch another
important
football game Nathan and Marko were already engrossed in. Vinnie and I remained to watch Grace read the tarot cards.

My mom had always been a big believer in tarot, so I’d grown up knowing what each of the cards signified. But it had been years since I’d seen anyone throwing the tarot, so I was looking forward to hearing Grace’s interpretation of the cards.

Grace turned over the Six of Cups. “That means you radiate joy and affection.”

Sybil nodded. “That’s true.”

What?
I so disagreed, but I wasn’t about to contradict Grace.

Grace threw down the next card and frowned. “Oh, the Page of Swords.”

“What does it mean?” Sybil asked.

“It means your goals are in focus,” Grace muttered.

“Good,” Sybil said with a confident smile.

Vinnie flinched, then gawked at me. Her stunned expression was loud and clear:
Grace sucks at this!

I completely agreed.

All of a sudden, Sybil screamed and jumped from her chair. “Get it away from me! Get it away!”

Was she hallucinating?

“For goodness’s sake, Sybil,” Grace said. “It’s just a tarot card.”

“Not the card, you moron!” She pointed a shaky finger toward the carpet and that’s when I saw the tip of a black furry tail slink under the card table.

“It’s just a cat.” I frowned at Sybil. Not only was she being ridiculous over a small cat, but I couldn’t believe she’d just called her hostess—and her husband’s business partner—a
moron
.

“It’s Leroy,” Vinnie said soothingly. “Here, boy.” She
scooped the black cat into her arms. “Aren’t you a pretty thing?”

Sybil shivered uncontrollably. “Keep that animal away from me. I’m deathly allergic. And I plain don’t like them. They’re vicious and…dirty.”

Vinnie gave her a hard look and started to walk off, but one of the kitchen staff met her and carried the cat away. Vinnie and I exchanged another look. My friend was a staunch animal lover and owner of two cherished cats. Sybil was not making points with anyone tonight.

“Okay, the cat’s gone, Sybil,” Grace said, trying to regain some levity. “Let’s continue with the cards.”

“Fine.” Sybil straightened her jacket and expelled a heavy breath. “Where were we?”

“I just threw down a card that means your goals are focused on something. I don’t know.” Grace waved her hand in the air. “Something good, like you should, uh, assert yourself. People like you. I think.”

I shook my head. My mother would be chanting right now, trying to keep from correcting Grace’s ludicrous interpretations. Beside me, Vinnie made a choking sound as Grace reached for the next card.

“Enough!” Vinnie exclaimed, unable to keep quiet a second longer. “That’s not at all what that card signifies.”

Grace’s reading of the cards was so wrong, I had to wonder if she had ever done this before. Did she know anything about the tarot or was she making it up as she went along?

“The first card, the Six of Cups. It does have a connection to love and affection, joy, affairs of the heart, and even sex and fertility,” Vinnie said. “But Grace’s interpretation is too vague.”

Vague
? Her interpretation was laughable! Grace must be faking it. But the least she could do was fake it more realistically than she was doing. I barely knew Sybil, but even I could tell there wasn’t an ounce of
affection
in her entire body. And
joy
? What a joke! Not that I was judging her. Well, I was, but that wasn’t the point. It
was Grace who should have interpreted the card differently. Why didn’t she use a book? Tarot cards usually came with a book that interpreted them, even on a superficial level.

And if she had read the book, she would know that because the card was reversed and not facing Sybil, it could mean something altogether different.

Hmm. I guess I’d retained more of the tarot than I thought I had.

“There is more to see here, Sybil,” Vinnie insisted before Grace could deal the next card. “The Six of Cups ties into your past more than any of the other cards. It suggests that it might be time to heal yourself from old wounds. And while the card does radiate an aura of affection, as Grace mentioned, that affection is often connected to related areas such as fertility, childhood, and family. It is simplicity. Forgiveness.”

“Whatever,” Sybil said.

But Vinnie was on a roll. “The card asks you to open your heart, appreciate simple gifts, observe the energy of children. A child is very much involved in the present. So the Six of Cups reminds us to remember the past, but live in the present.”

Sybil had been staring at the ceiling, but now she glanced over at Grace. “Is she serious?”

Grace smiled at Vinnie. “I had no idea you were interested in the tarot.”

Vinnie shrugged. “I’m interested in many things.”

“Tell us what the Page of Swords means,” Grace said.

“Really?” Sybil sighed heavily. “Can we just get on with it?”

“But, Sybil,” I said, “don’t you want to know more of the card’s meaning? Isn’t that the fun of it?” I tapped the card. “The Page of Swords doesn’t just deal with goals. It has to do with one’s intuition, one’s insight. It’s connected to your mental abilities and perceptions.”

“My mental abilities are just fine, thank you.”

“Of course they are.” I smiled tightly.

“Brooklyn, you’re an aficionado, too?” Grace clapped her hands. “How fun!”

“Isn’t it?” Because Grace was trying to keep things light, I wasn’t about to divulge the card’s darker meanings. Each card within the suit of swords had a connection to intellectual pursuits and social interaction. But they could be aggressive, too, especially the Page of Swords. Some tarot experts even connected the card to acts of espionage and certain danger.

Like a sword, each card in the suit of swords could cut both ways. So when facing one way, the Page might represent a breakthrough in communication. If turned in the opposite direction, it could indicate confusion leading to a complete breakdown.

The Page of Swords indicated highly developed mental capabilities. It also suggested an ability to aggressively exploit or seize control of any situation.

But since Sybil didn’t seem capable of seizing much of anything, including enthusiasm for the cards, I kept it short. “If there’s a particular goal you had in mind, you might want to reconsider your means of accomplishing it.”

Sybil’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, really?”

“Yes. The Page of Swords sometimes indicates that your current course of action is faulty.”

“Right,” Sybil said, rolling her eyes. “And I’ll listen to you because a pack of playing cards is so meaningful to my life.”

I’d forgotten who I was talking to. With a weak smile, I said, “Of course not. Sorry. It’s just a game.”

“That’s right, Brooklyn dear,” she said. “It’s just a game.”

“Then let’s get on with the game,” Grace said jovially, and threw down the next card.

Death.

Sybil squealed and jolted back in her chair. “Are you trying to kill me?”

Grace leaned forward. “Calm down, Sybil. It’s just a game.”

“You gave me the Death card, you twit!”

Twit
? What was with the rude names?

My father had an old friend who, when he got overexcited, would begin swearing incessantly. It was almost like he’d contracted a type of Tourette’s syndrome in those moments. But as soon as the excitement faded, he became a perfect gentleman again. Maybe Sybil had a similar problem. I hadn’t heard her use such rude terms until now.

Vinnie flashed them both a disapproving look, but then she pressed a calming hand on Sybil’s shoulder. “Don’t be alarmed. The Death card can be a positive sign of change. It can indicate anything from tremendous spiritual transformation to the simplest modification in one’s life. These are good things.”

Grace smiled at Vinnie in admiration. “You’re really great at this.”

“I know a thing or two about a thing or two,” Vinnie said cryptically. “Some take the tarot more seriously than others.”

“Well, I’m just here to have fun,” Sybil said pointedly.

Grace shrugged as she smiled at Vinnie and me. She dealt several more cards, then flipped over the Tower card.

Vinnie gasped and Sybil jerked around. “What’s wrong? What does it mean?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Vinnie whispered, but her voice was as breathless as if she’d just run a hundred-yard dash. “I…I must go.”

She backed away from the table and I pulled her the rest of the way across the room. “Are you all right?”

Still breathing heavily, Vinnie said, “That last combination of six cards, culminating with the Tower, indicates that chaos and peril are at hand.”

“I know, I know,” I said, and wondered what my mother would say about the Tower card appearing when it did. “But chaos can be a prelude to humility and, ultimately, wisdom.”

“That is very pretty, Brooklyn, but coming on the heels of Death and a sword, the Tower card can only signify pain. Any other interpretation would be a sorry attempt to avoid the truth.”

“But, Vinnie,” I whispered, “this isn’t a real reading. This is just Grace and Sybil fooling around with the cards. It doesn’t mean anything.”

She scowled. “Grace is playing a dangerous game she doesn’t understand, and Sybil has had more than her share of cocktails tonight. It’s a dodgy combination, Brooklyn, and in this house that can put a person in all sorts of peril. We must keep an eye on Sybil over the next few days. Anything could happen to her, and I don’t mean that in a good way.”

Suzie came over to join us. “What’s wrong with you two?”

Vinnie shook her finger at Suzie. “You must talk to your aunt about treating the tarot more responsibly. She doesn’t know the kind of havoc she could be wringing from the universe.”

Suzie glanced at me sideways, then patted Vinnie’s cheek. “Somebody needs to get some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Vinnie protested. At first I thought Suzie was patronizing her, but now I realized that Vinnie was exhausted. It had been a long day and the blowup over the Tower card seemed to have wiped her out.

“Of course you’re fine, but I’m tired, too, so let’s call it a night.” Suzie spoke to her in the soft tones she’d use to calm a child. She wrapped her arm around Vinnie’s shoulders, then looked at me. “I’m going to walk her back to the room. Will you be staying up for a while?”

“No, I’m ready to hit the hay, too,” I said, and followed her as she guided Vinnie toward the hall. The two of them walked with me as far as the grand stairway. Then we all said good night and Vinnie and Suzie headed upstairs to their room on the third floor.

My Library Suite bedroom was on the ground floor, so I continued down the hall alone. I had a fleeting flashback
of my earlier run-in with Madge, but the hall was empty and I made it to my room without encountering anyone.

I had left my bedside lamp on, so the room was cozy and warm enough. I got ready for bed, but something told me I wouldn’t get much sleep tonight. Now that I was alone, I couldn’t help but think about Derek.

I was over my angst about the phone call, but I still wondered why I hadn’t heard from him yet. Did he even realize that I’d called? Did he know that the other woman had answered his phone? If he knew, did he wonder how I was reacting? Did he consider that I might be hurt or upset? Since I’d never known Derek to be unkind, I had to conclude that he didn’t know about the phone call. I reminded myself again that I’d never known him to lie or cheat. He’d told me on more than one occasion that he loved me. And since he didn’t lie, he had to have meant it.

So why was my stomach in knots?

“Why not?” I answered myself after I thought about the day I’d just lived through. This wasn’t about Derek. It was about the scary run-ins I’d had with Madge Crawford, Sybil Brinker, and Stephen Fowler, three of the rudest people I’d ever met in one house. It was about bookshelves on the ceiling and a bizarre tarot card reading that still made my head spin. So my anxiety had nothing to do with Derek. How refreshing.

“So just go to sleep,” I said aloud.

With determination, I lay down and pulled the covers up to my chin. The blanket and duvet were warm and toasty. The pillow was soft and fluffy. I would just close my eyes for a minute….